Come live with me and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands and crystal brooks,
With silken lines and silver hooks.
There will the river whispering run,
Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun.
And there the 'enamour'd fish will stay,
Begging themselves they may betray.
When thou wilt swim in that live bath,
Each fish, which every channel hath,
Will amorously to thee swim,
Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.
If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,
By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both;
And if myself have leave to see,
I need not their light, having thee.
Let others freeze with angling reeds,
And cut their legs with shells and weeds,
Or treacherously poor fish beset
With strangling snare or windowy net.
Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest
The bedded fish in banks out-wrest,
Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,
Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.
For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait:
That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,
Alas, is wiser far than I.
Notes
The date given is that of the first widespread, posthumous publication of Donne's works.
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From guest Karen (contact)
Um...his year of death is listed at 1631...but it says that this poem was written in 1633...someone should check their facts.
MOD NOTE
As with many poets of bygone times the first versions of their poems were circulated in manuscripts amongst friends or published in ephemeral media such as pamphlets.
In the case of Donne most of his poems were published posthumously (1633). The exception to these is his Anniversaries which were published in 1612 and Devotions upon Emergent Occasions published in 1623. -
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I would assume that all facts were checked. OldPoetry researchers are conscientious volunteers who do their best to make sure what they add to the database is correct. Mistakes can be made of course, we are human, and when they are, we are always appreciative of readers helping us with corrections.
I would guess 1633 is the publication date, that this poem was published posthumously. I could not find a date for this when I searched, and finding an exact one of writing would be quite difficult on most poems (unless the author has dated it himself.) So I assume the OldPoetry researcher chose the date when this poem was introduced to the world. If you know an exact date, we would be glad to correct the information we have listed.
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i've read this poem before, somewhere... not exactly sure... probably in english class. Sorry but i can't say that i like it. It does have a lot of hidden meaning tho. That is something i do like.
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to trap a soul and never let it go.
this was a good piece.
yvonne
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!?!?!?! umm great
this poem is very well known, i am doing a report of this poem, as a metaphysical writer, or i mean the actual founder of metaphysical poetry, in this poem john compares a lover to bait, and that all the people after her are nothing but fish. So he himself is nothing but a fish, once again he promises a girl things that could only be thought of by someone like him. this is a great poem i just had to write this....
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